George W. Bush, who has decried the “pervasiveness of violence” in Hollywood, served on the board of a movie company that financed more than two dozen R-rated films, including a gory 1986 slasher flick.

Bush’s presidential campaign last night insisted the Texas governor played no role in Silver Screen Management Co.’s decision to finance the horror-suspense movie “The Hitcher,” which features a young woman’s body getting ripped in two.

The political spotlight has been trained recently on Hollywood as both candidates try to force the entertainment industry to stop marketing violence to kids.

“There needs to be a kind of sense of urgency in our society about the pervasiveness of violence,” Bush said earlier this week.

“I think it starts with reminding moms and dads that they’ve got to be mindful of the games and movies and music that their children are listening to.”

Bush campaign communications director Karen Hughes emphasized that Bush’s involvement at Silver Screen was not at all comparable to Gore’s ties to a Hollywood bigwig.

Republicans have criticized the vice president for raising millions from the industry, and his close association with movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose Miramax company released the controversial NC-17-rated “Kids” and violent films like “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction.”

According to his campaign staff, Bush joined the board of directors of Silver Screen Management, run by New York businessman Roland Betts, a one-time Yale fraternity brother, in 1983 and served as a director until 1993, about the time he emerged as a candidate for Texas governor.

During those 10 years, he earned just over $100,000 in directors’ fees and periodic bonuses, campaign officials said.

The firm raised money from tens of thousands of investors and helped finance many successful movies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the R-rated hits “Good Morning, Vietnam” and “Pretty Woman,” and the PG-rated “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Dead Poets Society.”

“The Hitcher” was the only horror-suspense movie Silver Screen financed while Bush was on the board.